Allison Reiter & Megan Rosko

Traditional Social Studies Lesson Plan

1

America the Beautiful

Grade: 1st Grade

Lesson Guiding Question(s):

1.
2.
3.
4.

What is the purpose of a symbol?

What symbols represent the United States and the American people?
How do American symbols express American identity?
Why are symbols important?

Standards:
NCSS Themes:
VI. Power, Authority, & Governance
X. Civic Ideals & Practices
NJ Social Studies Standards:
6.1.4.D.17 Explain the role of historical symbols, monuments, and holidays
and how they affect the American identity.
(U.S. History-America in the world; D-history culture and perspectives)
Common Core Literacy Standards:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy. RI.1.7: Use the illustrations and details in a text to
describe its key ideas.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.1.2: Ask and answer questions about key details in a
text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media.
CCSS.ELA- Literacy. SL.1.5: Add drawings or other visual displays to
descriptions when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.

Learning Goals (Behavioral Objectives) &

Assessments:

Learning Objectives

Assessments

SWBAT identify some of Americas

Students will complete a booklet titled

historical symbols, monuments, and

America the Beautiful filling in the

holidays.

missing words about some of Americas

symbols.

SWBAT explain the meaning of a

Students will complete a booklet on

symbol.

American symbols.
Students will create their own symbol to
represent their school. They will draw the
symbol and provide a brief written
explanation.

SWBAT understand that American

The teacher will explain this concept to

national symbols reflect American

the class.

identity.
The class will complete a booklet on
American symbols.

Materials:
Brain Pop Video
https://jr.brainpop.com/socialstudies/citizenship/ussymbols/zoom.weml
America the Beautiful booklets
Large Chart paper & markers
Crayons
Pencils
Post Its

Intro-Pre-lesson assignments and/or prior knowledge (3-5

min):
Students should have previous exposure to major American symbols such as
the American flag and/or the Statue of Liberty.

Lesson Beginning: Students will watch an introductory Brain Pop video

on American symbols.

Instructional Plan
1. Lesson Beginning/ Intro (~5 minutes):
Distribute popular symbols to students such as: sports teams symbols,
superhero symbols, etc.
Ask students, Can anyone tell me what this is? and call on a few
volunteers.

2. Mini Lesson/ Input (~15 min):

Students will watch an introductory Brain Pop video on American symbols.
Students will be called to the carpet by table/ row (quiet, clean tables will be
called first).
One teacher will review the symbols presented in the video and their
meaning. An Anchor Chart will be created.
Symbols include: The American Flag, Bald Eagle, The Liberty Bell, The
Statue of Liberty, The White House and The 4th of July.
The other teacher will ask comprehension questions (see table below).

Symbol

Question(s)

Opening
Question

Can someone tell me what a symbol is in their own words?

4th of July

Have you ever celebrated the 4th of July? How did you celebrate?
Why do you think we use fireworks on the 4th of July?

American Flag

There are 50 stars on the American flag, why do you think there are 50?

Bald Eagle

Why do you think the Bald Eagle was chosen as the National Bird symbol
for the United States?
What animal would you pick as a symbol for the United States? Why?

Closing
Questions

Can you think of another American symbol that we have not talked
about?
Which symbol is your favorite and why?

After the carpet activity is done, one teacher will go through America the
Beautiful packet, and model how to answer the questions.

After modeling the packet, the other teacher will explain the following:
American national symbols express American identity and American values.
As Americans, we can all relate to and identify with these symbols.
All Americans have the same rights and freedoms.

Once the teacher is done explaining and taking any questions, the students
will be sent back to their desks.
Paper Passers will distribute the America the Beautiful packets.

3. Application (~20 mins):

Students will be sent back to their seats to complete the last page of
America the Beautiful packet.
The last page of the packet requires students to apply what theyve learned.

Each student will create his/her own school symbol. Students will be asked
to draw 1 school symbol and write a brief explanation about it.
Packets will be collected and reviewed in order to assess if the lessons
objectives were met.

4. Closure (~2 mins):

Exit Ticket: Students will write the name of 1 symbol that they learned from
this lesson on a Post It.
All Post Its will be placed on a large sheet of chart paper to review the
following day.

Differentiation:
The teachers have opened the lesson up with a video to meet the needs of

visual and auditory learners. The students will be able to visually see the
different symbols as the video is explaining about them.
In order to help students complete the America the Beautiful packet,

teachers have included fill in the blanks (each word is broken down into how
many letters are in each word).
Teachers have also provided pictures for each word. A word bank will be

provided for low level students.

For the independent activity, low level students will only be required to write

one sentence while drawing their symbol. The rest of the class will be
instructed to write two or three sentences about their symbol and why they
chose it.

Questions:

Can someone tell me what a symbol is in their own words?

Have you ever celebrated the 4th of July? How did you celebrate?
Why do you think we use fireworks to celebrate the 4th of July?
There are 50 stars on the American flag, why do you think there are 50?
Why do you think the Bald Eagle was chosen as the National Bird symbol for
the United States?
What animal would you pick as a symbol for the United States?

Can you think of another American symbol that we have not talked about?

Instructional Management:
Students are called by table to the carpet, and have assigned classroom jobs
in order to ease transitions and movement.
The teachers will explain the instructions at the beginning of the lesson. The
students are to pay attention to the video and not work on the packet until
we do so as a class. The students will be told not to work ahead either.
For the independent activity, the teachers will explain that they are to create
a symbol for their school. They are not to talk with their classmates about
their symbol. Each person should have a different symbol. They should also
be ready to explain why they chose that symbol to represent our school.

Transitions:
The teachers will explain to the directions to the students during each
activity. The teacher will ask if everyone understands the expectations and if
there are any questions before moving on.
The teacher will tell the students to bring their packets, a pencil, and their
clipboard to carpet when their table is called. The teacher will reinforce
students should walk and not run to the carpet, or they will be sent back to
their desks. The students will be instructed to sit on their carpet spots.

Wrap-up/Closure (~2 mins):

Exit Ticket: Students will write the name of one symbol that they learned
from this lesson on a Post It.
All Post Its will be placed on a large piece of chart paper to review the
following day.

During our in- class presentation of this lesson, we will begin with a
brief lecture (accompanied with a powerpoint for a visual aid). We will
discuss the same symbols covered in the lesson, but provide a deeper
background. Then, we will conduct a brief discussion before starting the
elementary lesson. We will ask volunteers the following questions:
1. Which of these symbols do you think accurately portrays American identity
and values? Why?
2. Do you relate/identity with any of these symbols? Why or why not?